Articulatable railway bogies

ABSTRACT

A railway bogie with a bolster has an arm extending rigidly from the middle of the bolster to a pony axle in advance of the leading axle, whereby any movement of the pony axle as its wheels move into a curve is transmitted to act on the bogie and urge it towards a position in which the bolster is aligned radially with respect to the curve, this being the position in which both the leading and trailing axles are nearest to being aligned radially with respect to the curve.

United States Patent Wilson et al.

[54] ARTICULATABLE RAILWAY BOGIES [72] Inventors: Eric John Wilson; Alan Henry Briggs; Eric Timmons, all of Sheffield, England [73] Assignee; English Steel Corporation Limited [22] Filed: Dec. 22, 1970 21 Appl. No.: 100,756

[52] US. Cl. ..105/196, 105/136, 105/174 [51] Int. Cl ..B61f 3/06, B61f 5/06, 1361f 5/32 [58] Field of Search ..105/136, 174, 196

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,151,471 8/1915 Kadel ..105/196 [451 Dec. 12,1972

2,196,007 4/1940 Blunt ..105/196 X Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza Assistant Examiner-l-loward Beltran Attorney-Lowe & King [5 7] ABSTRACT A railway bogie with a bolster has an arm extending rigidly from the middle of the bolster to a pony axle in advance of the leading axle, whereby any movement of the pony axle as its wheels move into a curve is transmitted to act on the bogie and urge it towards a position in which the bolster is aligned radially with respect to the curve, this being the position in which both the leading and trailing axles are nearest to being aligned radially with respect to the curve.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures This invention relates to railway bogies and is concerned with providing bogies with pony trucks for the purpose of guiding the bogies into curves in a track.

It has been known to provide a bogie with a pony truck either pivoted on the leading end of the bogie frame or pivoted on the leading end of the vehicle supported by the bogie and with the pony truck linked to the leading end of the bogie frame. In either case the pony is effective to lead the wheels on the leading axle of the bogie into a curve but has no effect or has an adverse effect on the wheels of the trailing axle of the bogie.

According to the present invention, a railway bogie has a bolster the ends of which are supported on compression springs in openings in the side members of the bogie frame mid-way between the longitudinal axes of its leading and trailing axles, the sides of the openings being a close fit to the sides of the ends of the bolster, and an arm extending rigidly from the middle of the bolster to a pony axle in advance of the leading axle. The arm is preferably integral with the bolster and divides to lie outside the wheels of the pony axle, with compression springs housed in the divided ends and seating on axle boxes for the pony axle.

Any movement of the pony axle as its wheels move into a curve in the track is transmitted through the arm and the bolster to act on the side members and urge them towards positions in which the bolster is aligned radially with respect to the curve, this being the position in which both the leading and trailing axles are nearest to being aligned radially with respect to the curve.

A vertical pivot for the bogie may be provided at the middle of the bolster, or it may lie some distance from the middle of the bolster along the arm to the pony axle, the actual distance being determined by the balance of the weights of the unsprung masses. In general, however, it is preferable that the position of the vertical pivot be such that the pony axle is subjected to an equal or lesser load than the other axles of the bogie, especially a motor bogie so as not to detract too-much from the adhesion producing load on the driven wheels.

With a motor bogie with a motor and gearbox on the leading axle, the arm to the pony axle will be arched over the motor and gearbox from the bolster, which conveniently arches between its ends engaging with the side frames. If, as is usual, the trailing axle of a motor bogie is also provided with a motor and gearbox, the motor casings may be provided with extensions directed towards each other and in overlapping interengagement, either with each other or, preferably, with a rigid transverse member extending between the side members of the frame independent of the bolster so that any reaction on the transverse member from one motor acting through its extension will be balanced by the opposite reaction on the transverse member from the other motor acting through its extension, but in the event of either motor failing (e.g. burning-out) the reaction of the motor still functioning is transmitted to the bogie frame by the transverse member, so that no damage can be done to that motor and/or the extensions or further damage be done to the motor that has failed. The overlapping interengagement of each extension with the transverse member preferably includes energy-absorbing means, preferably preloaded.

One embodiment of i the invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a railway bogie in ac- V cordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan of the bogie;

FIGS. 3 and 4 arefragmentary enlarged cross sec.- tions taken from the lines 3 3 and 4 4 respectively of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is an elevationfrom the left-hand end of FIG. 1 but to the same scale as FIGS. 3 and 4.

The bogie has a bolster 1 arching between its ends 2 which are supported on compression springs 3 in openings 4 in side members 5 of the bogie frame, the sides 6 of the openings being a close fit to the sides 7 of the ends of the bolster, and an arm 8 extends integrally and rigidly from the bolster, arches over a motor and gearbox 9 (shown in broken line in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5 on the leading axle 10 of the bogie, and divides to lie outside the wheels 11 of a pony axle 12, with compression springs 13 housed in the divided ends 14 and seating on axle boxes 15 for the pony axle. A pivot socket 16 is provided along the arm 8 to the pony axle 12, in a position such that the pony axle is subjected to an equal or lesser load than the axles 10 (leading) and 17 (trailing) of the bogie so as not to detract too much from the adhesion producing load on the driven wheels 18 the trailing axle 17 also carrying a motor and gearbox 19.

Any movement of the pony axle 12 as its wheels 11 move into a curve in the track is transmitted through the arm 8 and bolster l to act on the side members 5 and urge them towards positions in the bolster is aligned radially with respect to the curve, this being the position in which both the leading and trailing axles l0, 17 respectively are nearest to being aligned radially with respect to the curve.

As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the motors and gearboxes 9, 19 are held against rotation by links 20 to brackets 21, 22 on the underside of the arm 8 and the rear of the bolster 1 respectively, but as previously mentioned the motor casings could be provided with extensions directed towards each other and in overlapping interengagement, either with each other, or with a rigid transverse member extending between the side members 5 of the frame, the ends of which transverse member would be engaged between the springs 3 and the lower sides of the openings 4 in the side mem bers, so that any reaction on the transverse member from one motor will be balanced by the opposite reaction from the other motor, but in the event of either motor failing the reaction of the motor still functioning is transmitted to the side members by the transverse member, so that no damage can be done to either motor.

What we claim is:

1. A combined railway bogie for movement along a track and accommodation of curves therein comprising a bogie frame having elongated side members and leading and trailing wheeled axles extending transverse thereto, openings in said side members of said bogie frame midway between the axes of said leading and trailing axles, forward and rearward bearing faces forming said openings extending transverse to the longitudinal axes of said side members, a bolster having ends supported on compression springs located at the bottom of said openings, the bearing faces of said opening being a close fit to said ends of said bolster in the longitudinal direction, and a pony truck having a wheeled axle and being located in advance of said leading axle and connected by an arm rigidly attached to, and extending from, said bolster, said arm dividing to lie adjacent said wheels of said pony axle to form divided ends, with further compression springs housed in said divided ends and seating on axle boxes for said pony axle, whereby transverse movement of said pony truck accommodating a curve in said track causes direct following movement of said bogie frame through interaction of said bearing faces and the ends of said bolster to most nearly align radially both said leading and trailing axles with respect to said curves.

2. A combined railway bogie as claimed in claim 1, wherein a vertical pivot for said bogie lies a predetermined distance from the middle of said bolster along said arm, the actual distance being determined by selection of the desired balance of the weights of the unsprung masses. v

3. A combined railway bogie as claimed in claim 1, wherein a vertical pivot for said bogie is provided at the middle of said bolster.

4. A combined railway bogie as claimed in claim 3, wherein the position of said vertical pivot is such that said pony axle is subjected to substantially an equal load as said other axles of said bogie combined.

5. A combined railway bogie as claimed in claim 1, wherein a motor and gearbox are provided on said leading axle, said arm connecting said pony truck and said bolster being arched over said motor and gearbox from said bolster.

6. A combined railway bogie as claimed in claim 5, wherein said bolster arches between its ends.

a I I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No 3,705,555 Dated December 12, 1972 lnv-entofls) I Erik John Wilson; Alan Henry Briggs, Eric Timmons It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Page 1, change the Assignee as follows:

From "Assignee: English Steel Corporation Limited" v to Assignee: British Steel Corporation-- Signed and sealed this 15th day of May 1973.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK I Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents F ORM PO-1050 (10-69) USCOMM-DC 60376-P69 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: I969 O35$- 33l I 

1. A combined railway bogie for movement along a track and accommodation of curves therein comprising a bogie frame having elongated side members and leading and trailing wheeled axles extending transverse thereto, openings in said side members of said bogie frame midway between the axes of said leading and trailing axles, forward and rearward bearing faces forming said openings extending transverse to the longitudinal axes of said side members, a bolster having ends supported on compression springs located at the bottom of said openings, the bearing faces of said opening being a close fit to said ends of said bolster in the longitudinal direction, and a pony truck having a wheeled axle and being located in advance of said leading axle and connected by an arm rigidly attached to, and extending froM, said bolster, said arm dividing to lie adjacent said wheels of said pony axle to form divided ends, with further compression springs housed in said divided ends and seating on axle boxes for said pony axle, whereby transverse movement of said pony truck accommodating a curve in said track causes direct following movement of said bogie frame through interaction of said bearing faces and the ends of said bolster to most nearly align radially both said leading and trailing axles with respect to said curves.
 2. A combined railway bogie as claimed in claim 1, wherein a vertical pivot for said bogie lies a predetermined distance from the middle of said bolster along said arm, the actual distance being determined by selection of the desired balance of the weights of the unsprung masses.
 3. A combined railway bogie as claimed in claim 1, wherein a vertical pivot for said bogie is provided at the middle of said bolster.
 4. A combined railway bogie as claimed in claim 3, wherein the position of said vertical pivot is such that said pony axle is subjected to substantially an equal load as said other axles of said bogie combined.
 5. A combined railway bogie as claimed in claim 1, wherein a motor and gearbox are provided on said leading axle, said arm connecting said pony truck and said bolster being arched over said motor and gearbox from said bolster.
 6. A combined railway bogie as claimed in claim 5, wherein said bolster arches between its ends. 